Hola chicas y chicos! I realize this is a twofer post, but it is also a midnight wasted post, so it will be a quickie.

Thursday was pretty un-monumental. I ate a KIND Bar as my train breakfast.

KIND Bars always make me happy.

The school day was a little weird, the kids were getting so tired of doing nothing. A lot of people were watching a movie in Mr. S’s room and my girls class came in and was like “we cleaned up and played that game (Scattegories) in Ms. Wax’s room, can we do that again?!?” Midway through the day we ended up going to an Anti-Violence Parade. It was totally non-related to violence or the lack of violence but there was food and performances. I couldn’t eat the burgers and hot dogs but one of my students bought me an (unphotographed) icee that made me pretty happy 🙂

For my non-mammal-on-the-grill lunch I came inside and ate this Asian-Style Potstickers Lean Cuisine.

I’ve decided that I only like frozen “diet” meals when they are Asian inspired.

The rest of the day was pretty random. A went out with his co-workers and I hung out at home and vegged. I ate some snacks but never officially did dinner. I had 3 of these.

And 1C of KashiHeart to Heart Blueberry with vanilla hempmilk.

I bought this Living Harvest Hemp Milk after hearing blogger raves but I wasn’t all that impressed, it was a little too sweet for my liking.

I also made a 3T serving of paperbag popcorn.

Now Friday, however, is when the fun started! Today was finally, officially, my last day of teaching. It was a little bittersweet because as excited as I am about going back to school and starting a new profession it’s odd to think about not teaching any more. I had said most of my goodbyes to students earlier in the week so I didn’t have to shed too many tears about that.

{I will say, I shed some tears right now: I wrote a mega post that somehow got erased and my rewrite will be nowhere near as insightful}

I didn’t eat any breakfast but I was very excited to eat my last lunch from the pizza spot across the street from the school.

Goodbye East New York food!

The kids were dismissed at 10:30 and then things got a bit ridiculous. We got called in to a staff meeting for which the entire purpose was to scream at the teachers. Our principal got back the results of a DOE survey on which she and the school got very poor scores – she was pissed. She screamed at us for more than an hour. In addition to several other things, she said that even though we usually get out early on the last day she was holding us until 3 as punishment.

After she left some older staff members continued to scream for another hour. Some of the things that were said were just shocking – there was so much anger and inappropriateness. The newer teachers were shocked, Ms. N actually left the room and Mr. H said he felt like he was going to throw up. One of the issues is that the school got very poor ratings on school safety and the screamers were beyond aggressive in saying that people were wrong. There main points were a) things are a lot better than they used to be; and b) the kids aren’t “that bad” and it is pathetic that adults would feel unsafe. I’m going to address those points really quickly.

A) It doesn’t matter if things are better, if they are not ok they are not ok. You can not and should not lower your standards just because there has been a slight improvement. I get that the kids used to light the bulletin boards on fire, that was a problem. However, the lack of flaming bulletin boards does not a safe school make. At least 2 times a week at least 5 students would come to school in the middle of the day, stoned as hell, and wander the hallways messing with other students. That is unacceptable.

B) In spite of my experiences (for example: a male student getting an inch from my face and screaming that he would f*cking kill me. Or another student bashing my face into a wall) I do NOT feel unsafe. When it comes down to it, I am an adult and they are children. However, when I filled out the survey I wasn’t thinking about my safety, I was thinking about student safety (funny, I thought that’s what we all were worried about?!). It is not safe that in our middle school we have many 16year oldsrunning around and terrorizing 12year olds. Bullying is unacceptable and it is rampant in our school.

Anywho, Moving on to happier things! Both administrators gave me a hug and told me I did a great job and my principal told me I have a job waiting for me whenever I want it. And after that we got wasted 🙂 Ms. M organized an escape celebration for me and I couldn’t be more grateful. A group of us that were close went to Franklin Park Bar in Prospect Heights.

I started with a Franklin lemonade, which was delish.

And then I made people do a round of Knob Creek shots.

And then I did another shot (alongside a too sweet mojito that I handed off after 1sip).

And then I had a pear cider.

And another.

And I also had a final shot that I was definitely not able to photograph. I had a great time but I was definitely only semi-functional at that point and I very much appreciate Ms. M for driving. I managed to get a pic of part of our group.

I love (some of) my coworkers!

Afterwards a smaller group of us headed to a diner in my ‘hood because every one wanted shakes and burgers. I got a black and white milkshake.

It was good but A showed up and drank most of it. I also got a turkey burger.

The fries were for Ms. N, I didn’t have any, and I had about half of the burger with A.

After my coworkers split A and I went down to 5thAvenue to meet up with my friend Lana (from Williamsburg). Her bf was dj’ing and we went to watch. I had a great time catching up, but definitely didn’t do any more drinking! Apparently Lana has been reading my blog, so that is exciting – Hi Lan!

Afterwards A and I did a long walk home and stopped in at a grocery store. I picked up my favorite frozen food ever.

This veggie pad thai seriously rocks so hard, it is fantastic.

And now it is beyond time for bed. It was a great, great day, I feel very blessed. I am also excited because my parents are coming into town for a visit tomorrow, see ya then!

I had a really fun evening, it an unexpected sort of way. First on the agenda was finishing up my business with a grocery trip. A was busy so I finished out my Physique57 workout from this morning hauling 2 heavy bags back to the house! On the way home I stopped for a fresh juice.

So tasty! I like pasta cooked al dente and this had the perfect amount of chew to it.

The plan for the evening was to head to Manhattan to see a friend of a friend at a comedy club. We got a late start because of A’s appointment and the rain but we were feeling good. I even relaxed with a book waiting for the train.

Well apparently I was too relaxed because I followed A right onto a train headed the wrong direction! Once we realized our mistake (on the moving train!) it was too late to make it to the show. I was sad, but it was easy to get over once A suggested Wendy’s and a movie! We split chicken nuggets and fries, my portion –

and watched “He’s Just Not That Into You.” A had never seen it and he loved it – it is the perfect mix of touching and comedy. I snacked on some new Lindt Mini Truffles while I watched.

I had one of each flavor – cappuchino, nougat, caramel.

I have some fun planned for tomorrow so I’m trying to make it an early bedtime but we’ll see how that goes. Sleep tight!

What silly things have you done for a crush? As you know I married my high school sweetheart, A and I have dated since my senior year (his jr year) in high school. When we first met it was very casual – he thought I was hot and I wanted him to drive me around in his car! Well as I spent some time around him I developed a crush. A ran cross country so I thought “what better way to spend time with him than join cross country too?” Good idea, except, I was already a cheerleader. I somehow worked it with both of the coaches that I did cheer practice M, W, F and running T, R. So I ran 2 days a week, which meant while everyone else was training and getting better I was basically maintaining. Which meant I started off pretty strong but by the time the first meet rolled around……….I came in dead last and then puked! The things we do for love!

It is a late, late night. I was at school for more than 12hours today – eeek! I will try to keep this brief, I am long long overdue for cuddling with A.

For train breakfast I went with pb cookie bar version 2.0 –

Luna Bars are good, but this flavor is better in Lara Bars.

“School” (lets add some “”””””””””s) was ridiculous today. There was not 1 single teaching period. 1-3 were used for predictive testing. 4-5 were graduation practice. 6 was lunch. 7-8 were for handing out yearbooks/caps & gowns. The super fun part was that 4-8 I was in the library with all the kids who will NOT be graduating – good times.

After “school” there was an awards ceremony from 6-8 so I stayed there. I walked 8 blocks (through the serious ghetto) with 2 kids to pick up the balloons for decorations. Picture the whitest girl you know walking through the yard of a housing project carring 25 shiny balloons. Oh yeah.

While I decorated I snacked on a serving of Doctor Kracker Cherry Seminola Crips with 4 figs.

And around 5 Mr. B and Ms. M and I knew we needed to have a quick escape so we headed to a nearby diner for dinner. The options were typical diner food and therefore dinner was lame.

I ate about 3/4 each of the chicken fingers and the fries.

I had a good time at the awards ceremony, it was fun to see some of the kids all dressed up. I presented a set of awards but mostly I sat in the audience clapping loudly. I shared these Sour Patch Kids with a coworker.

I didn’t get home until after 9 and then A and I had a loooong conversation – I have very interesting news that I will hopefully be sharing by the end of the week. While I typed this blog post I ate three (a serving) strawberry chocolates.

It is obviously quite late so I will try to make this a quickie (hehe). A and I had a good walk finish our errands. I even took a shot of my tootsies because the fabulousness of the Chanel nail polish my mommy gave me needs to be shown.

When we got home we got down to dinner making. My father and I have been talking about cooking fish (my parents’ new routine is fish every Sunday) and he generously offered to have A and me use his credit card to buy some.

Mahi Mahi is my favorite fish other than salmon. We were hungry so we did things quickly. First we did a three minute marinade,

2T mayo, juice from 1lime, and a big sprinkle of paprika. Then A cooked it on the stove top for about 8 minutes, delish.

We also had oven roasted asparagus,

and sweet potato with Smart Balance Light.

All together.

It was a really nice meal – thanks dad! I had a small glass of A’s beer too.

Our big after dinner plan was gelato that my girlfriends left but we had the fun discovery that our freezer had completely defrosted – woo who! So we went to the movies instead 🙂 We saw The Hangover which 100% rocked my socks. While we watched I had a regular sized Jr Mints (as in not movie biggie sized) that I bought at Staples today,

and 2 handfuls of caramel corn.

I like having small hands, my palm can’t physically hold more than a .5C serving.

Well, things have certainly gone much more smoothly since my last post! It’s been a fabulous weekend and I still have a block of Sunday night left 🙂

After my post yesterday A and I headed to the movies. I packed some good snacks,

the rest of my TJ’s unsweetened dried pineapple and a baggie of green grapes, but also supplemented with movie candy,

Shockers. The movie was good but not great – Ryan Reynold and Sandra Bullock were amazing as usual but the storyline was pretty flat.

After the movie A and I knew we were a little hungry but couldn’t decide on what. We had to pick up Father’s Day cards so we stopped at Barnes and Nobel and got small pb cookie dough ices along the way.

I gave half of mine to A and then we ended up wandering more than 2miles to Flatbrush! By the time we made it to dinner at Mangowe were mega hungry! I ordered steamed veggie dumplings as my appetizer.

These were wonderful, very chewy. The veggies had a nice meaty taste and the sauce had a little kick to it. I only at half because I was super excited about my meal – See U Noodles! Broad rice noodles are my absolute favorite, which means you’ve seen them before which is good because I randomly have no picture.

We headed home after dinner and I’d like to say it was time for bed but for some reason it seemed appropriateto me to spend more than an hour watching Royal Pains on Hulu.

Late bedtime aside, I was more than ready to get up for my adventure this morning! I packed up a bag and headed into Manhattan. On the train I tried one of these Raw-Revolution bars for breakfast.

I did the chocolate coconut flavor – delish! This was chewy and chocolatly and pretty much perfect. I was full of energy when I reached my final destination.

Physique 57. Months ago Melissagave a bunch of bloggers a free pass and I think I’m the last person to use it. I did a 60minute beginner’s class, it was strength moves for the whole body using weights, a ballet bar, a beach ball, and a mat. I was terrible, the instructor corrected my back like 8 times and I still don’t know how I was supposed to be. And I loved it. I booked a class for next Saturday before I even left.

This was a 16oz Peach Pleasure with a whey protein boost. I wanted the protein boost but this flavor was not happening, I brought the 2nd half of it home for A. I can’t wait ’till we move so I can buy a blender!

I had a busy but fun afternoon – painted my nails, ran some errands. I had a $9 credit at Staples (from my teacher rewards card) that I obviously don’t need so I bought some nuts and candy there and then I headed to the grocery store to buy some goods for dinner tonight. I was dying for a snack by the time I got home so I ate the other half of my veggie dumplings from last night.

Then I had a romantic snack with A ❤. We went to Union Market for fun the other day and got foccacia,

and this beauty –

Guinness Cheddar Cheese. Yums! A made me thin slices so it looked like more.

So good, you could really taste the beer!

We have a fun dinner planned tonight but first we are going on a walk to run some errands I forgot earlier, see ya later alligators!

What new fitness routes have you tried lately? Did you enjoy them? I am a new convert to Physique 57 and I’m actually trying something new tomorrow too!

Un-Frickin-Believable Day! Every single minute of this day has rocked my socks (and some of my best friends will be here in mere minutes!)!

I had plans of getting up for a run this morning but I’ve had a really hard time falling asleep this week and I ended up sleeping way in (the lack of exercise was the only un-awsome thing today). When I did finally get up it was time to do so I scurried out the door and ate another train breakfast.

Lara bars are just so good, Coconut Cream Pie is one of my favorite flavors.

I don’t know whether the universe decided to finally cut me a break or what but today was my best day all year. Every single class was quiet for 2 straight periods and 95% of my students read the entire story, answered every question, and volunteered to share out. If I had been grading today I would have legitimatly given almost every single student a 95-100%. I was seriously so happy all day. I have no idea what worked so well, my lesson was on folktales (we just finished a few weeks on fairy tales). We took notes on key elements, I did a short read aloud, and then the kids read a (longish!) folk tale on their own and analyzed it. I think part of what helped is that most people stop teaching in June so they were taken off gaurd by the fact that I am still full-force doing lessons.

For lunch I did another museli, this one was much more pleasing than the last.

Nonfat plain Fage, chopped nectarine, 1/4C oats.

I also added a dollop of Stonewall Kitchen Triple Berry Preserves. I had a bunch of kids in my room at lunch and they were very curious about what I was eating – museli is beyond strange to them!

I stayed after school a little bit to work with students and then headed to the train with some coworker friends. Somehow I ended up talking two of them into getting a drink with me even though we all had to hurry to other plans. We stopped at a place in the Slope and I got the best strawberry mojito I’ve ever tasted. I also ate some communal chips and salsa. Sorry for no photos – my camera stays home some school days.

I didn’t have much time to relax by the time I got home but I did send some e-mails and eat a few of these Chocorooms.

Then A and I freshened up and headed into the city. We’ve been planning this date for weeks and I was very excited. I love going to the Upper East Side, even the subways are fancy!

Our final destination?

Candle Cafe. An organic, vegan, spot that serves mostly local food. I don’t know how I managed to drag my husband here but he ended up loving it! A got the potato cauliflower soup as an appetizer.

I had a few bites and it was great. At this point they dimmed the lights and my pictures go steadily downhill. I was excited most about this:

It was fabulous! This was my first major foray into Indian and I am hooked (Brooklyn blogger gals, I am so excited for next week!). The bread was out of this world, my favorite thing was the curry. I left all of the rice untouched but I basically licked the rest of the plate clean 🙂

A and I were pretty stuffed at this point but we were on a roll so we got dessert. I ordered the cherry chocolate cheesecake.

I thought it was pretty good but A fell in loooove and made me switch after a few bites. I ended up with his chocolate mousse.

Which I actually liked better, love how that works out! All total I ate about 1/3 of each desserts. We brought the rest home for my friends who are coming in tonight.

Stuffed to the gills, but in a healthy feeling way, we headed back home. Now we are waiting for my girlfriends to get in, their flights were delayed so we decided a cab was a better idea than meeting them at the airport. I’m not sure what my blogging will look like over this weekend, but I will try to at least do a big recap. I am so excited!

Sorry for my two day absense – my obsessive need to be near A has lead me to make some stupid (but fun!) decisions. I’ve done a LOT so this with be a slightly less detailed account. It’s been a greattwo days, but I’ll backtrack…..

I try not to eat Balance Bars all the time because they do have 2.5 – 4grams of saturated fat, but they sure are good!

For lunch I packed a Fiji apple,

a TJ’s Nonfat Honey Greek Yogurt,

and 1serving of Doctor Kracker Fire Roasted Crisps.

The apple was super mealy so I only ate half but the crackers and the yogurt hit the spot.

After school I rushed around trying to get some program applications (I’m going to try to post about this on Thursday) filled out and faxed. It was a lovelyspring day and I was glad I dressed in season for school.

The picture is blurry but here is the flowery fabric –

I love this shirt, I got it and the same but in black from H&M last year.

With more rushing, I even managed to make it to the gym for a class. 1st I did 15minutes (2walk/13jog) on the treadmill to warm up. I did 1.6miles. Then I headed into a 30minute Abs and Stretching class . Holey Moley, I couldn’t even finish all of the sets!

Next up, making dinner. I did some snacking while cooked, I serving each of turkey pepperoni and salted peanuts.

It is also possible that I ate an ice-cream Snickers bar.

Yums.

Dinner was very veggie,

baked tofu in a sea of roasted brussels sprouts with a small pile of coleslaw. I had never eaten a brussels sprout before this year but now roasted they are one of my favs.

The tofu I drained, pressed, sliced, then drizzled with evoo and a sprinkle of dried mustard and paprika, baked for 25minutes at 475*. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, I only ended up eating 2slices (1/3 of the package).

And finally was homemade cole slaw, recipe below.

All together.

The cole slaw was inspired by this sale item at the grocery store –

Cole Slaw Recipe

4C shredded cabbage

3T mayo

3T apple cidar vinegar

1t sugar

1/2C raisins

Mix to combine and Done. I’m sure this will be even better leftover. I love raisins in cole slaw.

Somehow after dinner A convinced me to see a 10:15 showing of “Drag Me to Hell.” Drag me to Hell is right – Worst.Movie.Ever. Seriously, I don’t know if you guys remember the year in the ’90’s when 80 movies in a row were terrible (Godzilla, Breakdown, etc.) but this movie was worst than all of those movies combined! Even scarier was what I ate during the movie (I always eat a ton during scary movies) – an entire container of pretzel bites with fake cheese and a box of cookie dough bites. Seriously, I’m glad I don’t have pictures. A calls me a goldfish, I actually made myself nausous.

This morning I was still feeling so gross from the movie-crapfest that my train breakfast didn’t get eaten until well into 2nd period!

Doesn’t that sound good? Well, no, no it was not. I took about 2 bites before I decided I’d rather be hungry.

I stayed after school to conference with some kids then rushed to the post office to main in an application. A was my knight in shining armor today – it was pouring and he came and met me at the train with an umbrella. Even better, he let me talk him into a meal at Sweet Melissa!

It was wet and chilly enough out for a hot drink so I took full advantage, Sugar and Spice Latte.

was served on a crossaint and had green apples and golden raisins in it.

Delish. Usually I don’t eat the bread on restaurant sandwiches (and I never eat crossaints) but today I ate the whole thing and it was delicious.

A and I hung out at home for a bit and then he said he was going for a run. Well, my plan for June is to slowly get back into running shape doing intervals but I’m a crazy-face who misses my husband all day so I jumped up and said I’d go too! We did some loops in Prospect Park and a few little loops in the Slope. And get this – in 35minutes (I ran the exact time of my 35minute gym playlist on my i-pod, which was an exciting coindence) we did 4.4miles! Not only did I know think I could run for 35minutes straight I never thought I could do more than 3miles this out of shape! Other than a few quick stops for boob adjustment (holey heck I need new sports bras) we ran the entire time. And my ankles/knees don’t even hurt yet (keeping my fingers crossed)! I can not even describe to y’all how excited I am.